After having successfully launched the iPhone 4S in India and boasting of over 230 million subscribers worldwide, India’s major mobile service provider Airtel has announced that its customers can now enjoy free access to Twitter till March 1, 2012.

N Rajaram, Chief Marketing Officer – Consumer Business, Bharti Airtel said, “With this, 170 million+ (in India) Airtel mobile customers will now potentially be able to enjoy Twitter’s rich interface on their mobile web browsers or access updates posted by specific users through SMS notifications free of charge. This initiative will introduce new users to an exciting world of possibilities that mobile internet enables, thus providing an impetus to data services market.

This will allow its subscribers to share and read Tweets of up to 140 characters, which can also include photos, videos or links to websites and news stories.

Users can visit http://mobile.twitter.com for free, including those who have not subscribed for a data connection – That is, users can send SMS short code 53000 to sign up for Twitter and even Tweet or receive Tweets from specified users.

For instance, to follow Techie Buzz on Twitter via SMS, all you need to do is send the following text message to 53000 -

Follow techiebuzzer

At the AsiaD Conference, Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey had announced that Twitter is teaming up with India’s largest mobile operator, Bharti Airtel to offer free access to Airtel customers.

Earlier in July 2010, Facebook had teamed up with Airtel to allow its users to access the social networking site for free by visiting the link m.facebook.com for a limited amount of time. Vodafone also announced the Facebook Phonecalled Vodafone 555 Blue.  The phone comes with a price tag of just Rs.4,950 (approx. $110). You will also get free unlimited access to Facebook for a year, with the purchase of this handset.

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Last month, BlackBerry introduced a new member in its Curve family – the BlackBerry Curve 9360. This handset runs on the latest BlackBerry 7 Operating System. We have a good news for the folks living in India. Research-In-Motion (RIM) has recently launched the new BlackBerry Curve 9360 in India. Airtel subscribers will get additional benefits with the purchase of this handset. If you are planning to buy one, then check out the complete specs below.

BlackBerry Curve 9360 features a 2.44 inch HVGA+ display, sporting a resolution of 480 x 360 pixels, 800 MHz processor, BlackBerry 7 Operating System, Full QWERTY keyboard, touch-sensitive optical trackpad, 3G Connectivity, 5 megapixel camera with flash, image stabilization, face detection, digital zoom, geo-tagging, VGA video recording and so on.

Other features include a 3.5mm headset jack, integrated GPS with A-GPS ready, Wi-Fi 802.11 b/g/n, NFC (Near Field Communications), microSD/SDHC slot, 512 MB RAM, 512 MB internal memory, 32 GB expandable memory, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, up to 9 hours of video playback time, up to 25 hours of music playback time, up to 5 hours of talk-time, up to 12 days of standby time and a 1000 mAh battery.

BlackBerry Curve 9360 comes with a price-tag of Rs.19,990. Airtel subscribers will get the Rs.299 BlackBerry plan free for 2 months two months with the purchase of this device. Airtel subscribers will also get an additional benefit of reduced local calls rates at 20p/min and SMS at 5p with a validity of 12 months.

Last week, Reliance Communications launched its entry-level tablet in India for just Rs.12,999. Now, Beetel, a part of the Bharti Group, has joined the bandwagon. Last month, we posted that Beetel, will soon launch its Android powered tablet in India. And, within a month, the company went ahead and launched the affordable Beetel Magiq tablet. This device runs on the Android 2.2 (Froyo) Operating System and it comes with a 7 inch touchscreen display, 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor, etc.

Mr. Vinod Sawhny Executive Director & CEO, Beetel Teletech, said, The Beetel Magiq Tablet has been designed looking at the technology needs of the extremely demanding Indian customers. Our tablet is not only about affordability but also about aspirational features which were previously available in the high-end devices and not within the reach of the majority of Indian customers. With Beetel Magiq Indian customers can access their dream world to support their professional as well as their entertainment needs.

Beetel Magiq Specifications:

• 7 inch touchscreen display
• 800 x 480 pixel resolution
• 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor
• Android 2.2 (Froyo) Operating System
• Custom UI
• Wi-Fi b/g/n
• GSM calling support
• 2 megapixel rear camera
• VGA front camera for video calling
• 3.5 mm audio jack
• 8 GB Internal memory
• 3G Connectivity
• Bluetooth
• USB connector
• 2200 mAh battery

The Beetel Magiq tablet comes with a price-tag of Rs.9,999 (approx. $220). This tablet is Rs.3000 cheaper, compared to the Reliance tablet, but it runs on the old Android Froyo OS. The company also announced that, the Beetel Magiq will be soon upgraded to the Android 2.3 (Gingerbread) OS. It also comes with a 1 year manufacturer warranty.

Since the Beetel and Airtel are the part of the Bharti Group, customers will get a free Airtel pre-paid or postpaid connection with the purchase of this tablet. Customers will also get 2 GB of 3G data for 2 months. This tablet will soon hit the Indian market. Stay tuned for more updates!

Last week, Airtel launched its 3G services in Kerala. Now, the company went ahead and launched its 3G services in Maharashtra circle. Airtel has won 3G license for 13 telecom circles in India Mumbai, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West), Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Ramesh Menon, CEO Mumbai, Maharashtra & Goa, Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel said, With the launch of Airtel 3G services for our 1.15 crore plus mobile customers across Maharashtra and Goa, we are all set to empower these states with high speed capabilities that will bring them closer to an all new world of possibilities. With a commitment towards delivering an unmatched service and network experience, we look forward to delighting our 3G customers with a host of innovative capabilities including Mobile TV, video calls, video streaming and social networking on-the-go

Airtel does not have the 3G licesnse in Maharashtra and Goa circle. Airtel has mutually signed an Intra Circle Roaming Agreement (ICRA) with private operators such as Idea and Vodafone. Airtel will offer 3G services to its customers in this circle by using the Idea’s 3G services. Airtel 3G services are currently available across all major parts in the region including Pune, Nashik city, Nagpur city & Goa state.

Airtel 3G subscribers in Maharashtra and Goa circle can access multimedia services, high speed mobile broadband, videos on phone, live TV, video calls, etc. You can also enjoy popular Bollywood and regional movies, with the help of Video Talkies portal on Airtel 3G. To learn more about Airtel 3G plans, head over to this page. If you have any queries, then call 12134 (toll free). To activate 3G services, SMS 3G’ to 121.

Back in March, Airtel launched its 3G services in India. Airtel has won 3G license for 13 telecom circles in India Mumbai, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West), Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir. Airtel has already launched its 3G services in most of the telecom circle, but it has failed to launch 3G in all the circle. Now, Airtel went a step ahead and launched its 3G services in India.

Commenting on the launch, Mr. Rajiv Rajgopal, CEO Kerala & Tamil Nadu, Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel said, With the highest Human Development Index and literacy rate in India, Kerala is indeed well poised to represent the strong growth and development being observed by our country today. Following the deep penetration of voice telephony across urban and rural India, the introduction of 3G services in the country marks the next wave of telecom revolution , one that will offer a world class data services experience on the mobile device. Today, we are truly excited to bring the Airtel 3G promise for our customers in Kerala. We believe that Airtel 3G will lead the data and internet revolution in Kerala, bringing our customers in this part of the state closer to an all new world of possibilities.

In the first phase of rollout, Airtel 3G services will be currently available in major cities including Kochi, Trivandrum and Calicut. The company will soon roll out 3G in other major parts of the state. Airtel customers in Kerala can enjoy multimedia services, high speed mobile broadband, videos on phone, live TV, video calls and much more.

Airtel 3G customers can also enjoy popular Bollywood and regional movies (including Malayalam) on their mobile phones, thanks to the Airtel’s Video Talkies portal. Airtel 3G comes with the Mobile TV, which allows you to watch more than 100 live channels on the go. To learn more about Airtel 3G plans, head over to this page.

There have been a lot of rumors in the last week, which say that Bharti Airtel plans to launch its own Android tablet in the Indian market soon. The Airtel tablet was supposed to be priced very well, and would offer decent hardware specs. Today, AndroidOS uncovered some more details of the Airtel Android tablet. It turns out that the Airtel tablet is officially known as the Beetel Magiq, and is already available at a few stores for Rs. 8,900.

The Beetel Maqiq tablet by Airtel comes with a 7 inch touchscreen display with a resolution of 800 x 480 pixels. It is powered by a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and will likely come with 512 MB RAM. It also offers 8 GB internal storage and comes with a 2200 mAh battery. It also has a 2 MP primary camera and a secondary VGA camera.

It also supports 3G connectivity, which is great for a tablet in this price range. It should be announced officially in a few days.

This is not the first time an Indian company has launched an Android tablet, but none of the other tablets have been as cheap. The Olivepad was priced at over Rs. 25,000.

The Beetel Magiq may not be an Indian tablet though. It seems to be a rebranded version of the Huawei SmaKit S7.

Bharti Airtel is the India’s largest telecom operator. Earlier this year, Airtel launched its 3G services in India. The company has won 3G license in Mumbai, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West), Rajasthan, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka circle. Airtel subscribers in other circles will also be able to enjoy the 3G services, thanks to the Intra Circle Roaming Agreement (ICRA) with private operators such as Idea and Vodafone. This is definitely a good news, but we also have a bad news for the Airtel subscribers.

Airtel has recently hiked its prepaid tariff by 20% in 6 circles across India, including New Delhi, Andhra Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh circles. Pre-paid subscribers will be charged 1.2 paisa per second instead of the usual 1 paisa per second tariff. It means that, Airtel subscribers will need to shell out Rs.0.90 per minute for local and STD calls. Airtel has also increased the rates of local and STD SMS to Rs.1 and Rs.1.5 respectively.

According to the reports, Bharti Airtel has hiked the price because the company has paid $10.7 billion last year to acquire the Africa business of Kuwaiti telecom operator Zain. The company has also paid $3.3 billion to buy the 3G spectrum in India. Last year, Airtel has reached a new milestone of 200 million customers. To celebrate the success, the company has also changed its logo and signature tune. Airtel currently operates in 19 countries across South Asia, Africa and the Channel Islands.

“Telecom is probably the only industry where despite increasing inflation, tariffs have been falling unabatedly. Continuously declining margins, high 3G & BWA auction prices, constrained spectrum and rural roll out aspirations leave us with little choice but to make some price corrections. We are committed to enhance value for our customers through continued investments in network, technology, customer experience and life enriching services,” the company said in a statement.

After Airtel, other private operators such as Vodafone, Tata Indicom and Tata Docomo are expected to join the bandwagon. We have a question for the Airtel subscriber out there. What are your views regarding the hike in price? Will you shift your Airtel number to other operator using the MNP or you will stay connected with Airtel? Let us know your views in the comments below.

Last year, Tata Docomo was the first private operator to launch its 3G services in India. And soon after that, Reliance Communications and Aircel joined the bandwagon. Early this year, private operators such as Idea, Airtel and Vodafone also launched their 3G services. Airtel first launched its 3G services in Mumbai, during March and after waiting for nearly 3 months, the company went ahead and has finally launched its 3G services in Gujrat circle.

Commenting on this much awaited launch, Mr. Shivan Bhargava, COO Gujarat, Mobile Services, Bharti Airtel said, Having successfully launched Airtel 3G services in 50 plus towns across India, we today have over 3 million customers that are enjoying the Airtel 3G advantage. As we extend the promise of Airtel 3G services to Gujarat, we are delighted to invite our mobile customers in the region to experience the power of high speed internet and enjoy a host of innovative application capabilities from their mobile devices anywhere, anytime. We believe that Airtel 3G will lead the data and internet revolution in aapnu Gujarat, bringing our customers in the state closer to an all new world of possibilities.

Airtel has won 3G license for 13 telecom circles in India Mumbai, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West), Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir. Airtel 3G services will be available across all major parts of Gujarat including Ahmedabad, Baroda, Rajkot, Surat, Gandhinagar, Bhavnagar, Nadiad, Anand, Bharuch, Ankleshwar, Amreli, Chikli, Dahej, Daman, Gandhidham, Godhra, Jamnagar, Junagadh, Porbander, Silvassa, Valsad, Vapi, Rajula, Diu, Una and Verawal.

Airtel has also launched the International Video Calling, which is currently available in 227 international geographies. You can make international video calls, only if your friends and relatives are on a 3G network and using a smartphone with front-facing camera. International video calls to USA, Canada, Bangladesh are charged at Rs.14/min, while calls to UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Oman are charged at Rs.20/min.

Airtel 3G comes with the Mobile TV, which allows you to watch more than 100 live channels on the go. To learn more about Airtel 3G plans, head over to this page. If you have any queries, then call 12134 from your Airtel number or SMS 3G HELP’ to 121 and you will get the required information.

Earlier this year, Airtel launched its 3G services in India. Airtel 3G comes with the video calling, Mobile TV, video streaming, music download and many more services. The company recently launched the international video calling services in India. This service allows you to make international video calls and interact face-to-face with your friends and families living abroad.

Airtel has won 3G license for 13 telecom circles in India Mumbai, Delhi, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh (West), Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, West Bengal, Himachal Pradesh, Bihar, Assam, North East, Jammu & Kashmir. This service is available only for 3G customers living in these telecom circles. You will be charged 5 paisa per second for video calls to any number in India, but you will have to pay Rs. 14/min, for international video calls to USA, Canada, Bangladesh and other countries.

Atul Bindal, President MobileServices, Bharti Airtel said, At Airtel, it is our constant endeavor tointroduce services that enrich the lives of our customers. As we take the leadin launching International Video Calling on 3G in India, this marks the beginning ofa new era of next generation communication in the country – one that will helpmobile customers break the barrier of boundaries and instantly connect withtheir personal and business network across the world. Given the high demand ofvideo calling services seen since the launch of Airtel 3G services, we areconfident that our customers will see great value from the availability of thiscapability for international calls as well. We invite our 3 million plus Airtel3G customers to enjoy this exciting experience.

Airtel’s International Video Calling is currently available in 227 international geographies. You can make international video calls, only if your friends and relatives are on a 3G network and using a smartphone with front-facing camera. International video calls to UAE, Singapore, Malaysia, Saudi Arabia and Oman will be charged at Rs. 20 per minute.

Apple comes under the CCI scanner in India when a customer filed a complaint against Apple under The Competition Act 2002 (amended in 2007) stating that Apple is restricting customers from buying apple products (iPhone) by making its availability for only a selected few carriers (Airtel and Aircel). The section 4 specifically deals with Abuse of dominant position.

Apple had announced the iPhone 4 for Airtel and Aircel customers last month, while the iPad is sold through Apple store only.

The complainant has also alleged that a user can only download software from the i-store and the others are not recognised by the device,a senior CCI official said.

The complaint also stated that the phone could be serviced in Apple centers only, which charge high rates for servicing. The Commission will look into the matter for consideration by the end of this week, sources said.

There are a few things the CCI must consider -

First of all, Airtel and Aircel are selling “unlocked” iPhones with optional offer i.e. you’re free to use it with any service provider you choose. Second, Apple products are sold not just by Apple Stores, but by various distributors – Croma, Imagine Stores and several others.

Finally, every manufacturer voids the products warranty if the device is serviced at unauthorized centers. Apple has 3rd party centers in India which operate with Apple to help with major issues.

Well, laws can get tricky. It all depends on the interpretation of the law. Apple will sure argue and explain how they operate in India, however they will definitely have a tough time fighting the case.